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Lavender's Soothing Scent Could Be More Than Just Folk Medicine (nytimes.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In a study published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, [physiologist and neuroscientist Hideki Kashiwadani] and his colleagues found that sniffing linalool, an alcohol component of lavender odor, was kind of like popping a Valium (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source). It worked on the same parts of a mouse's brain, but without all the dizzying side effects. And it didn't target parts of the brain directly from the bloodstream, as was thought. Relief from anxiety could be triggered just by inhaling through a healthy nose. Their findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating anxiety-reducing qualities of lavender odors and suggest a new mechanism for how they work in the body. Dr. Kashiwadani believes this new insight is a key step in developing lavender-derived compounds like linalool for clinical use in humans.
In this study, they exposed mice to linalool vapor, wafting from filter paper inside a specially made chamber to see if the odor triggered relaxation. Mice on linalool were more open to exploring, indicating they were less anxious than normal mice. And they didn't behave like they were drunk, as mice on benzodiazepines, a drug used to treat anxiety, or injected with linalool did. But the linalool didn't work when they blocked the mice's ability to smell, or when they gave the mice a drug that blocks certain receptors in the brain. This suggested that to work, linalool tickled odor-sensitive neurons in the nose that send signals to just the right spots in the brain -- the same ones triggered by Valium.
In this study, they exposed mice to linalool vapor, wafting from filter paper inside a specially made chamber to see if the odor triggered relaxation. Mice on linalool were more open to exploring, indicating they were less anxious than normal mice. And they didn't behave like they were drunk, as mice on benzodiazepines, a drug used to treat anxiety, or injected with linalool did. But the linalool didn't work when they blocked the mice's ability to smell, or when they gave the mice a drug that blocks certain receptors in the brain. This suggested that to work, linalool tickled odor-sensitive neurons in the nose that send signals to just the right spots in the brain -- the same ones triggered by Valium.
There's a long history of scents affecting many real physical attributes, so it's no surprise that something as commonly loved as Lavender would have such an effect also.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
A cure for nervous mice that won't produce dangerous or unpleasant side effects.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
This was the fourty-second of an endless number of their experiments on us humans.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
The study in TFA was more in-depth and thorough. It's rare for a single study to provide all of the answers to all of the questions with complete certainty. For example, the current study looked at the mechanism for the effect rather than simply determining that an effect existed.
Anything that gets your brains to produce endorphins will have an affect.
This study seems to suggest the linalool is affecting GABA transmission, not endorphins. In other words, it would seem to reduce nerve excitability in general, not specifically pain signals.
It makes me want to vomit. Its the worst scent/flavor ever. Not suitable for anything imo. Should be BANNED!
Damn, dude, did you misplace your Valium?